The recent increase in school fees by government-owned and private schools has taken a new toll on parents, resulting in the withdrawal of their children.

The parents spoke in separate interviews in Abuja on Friday. They called on the government to take immediate action to mitigate the adverse effects of the petroleum subsidy removal on parents and school owners.

Rotimi Lawrence, a civil servant, said he withdrew his child’s admission from a government school due to an increase in tuition fees, a development he said was not envisaged initially.

“It is heartbreaking to note that private schools are increasing school fees, but we understand with them. Government schools, which should be a succour to parents, also increased theirs.

“For me not to allow this problem to continue, I had to withdraw my daughter from school when I heard that government schools had increased fees to N100,000; this is apart from other payments for new students,” he said.

Folashade Abdulrahman, a nurse, appealed to school proprietors to be considerate in their approach to fee adjustment by considering that workers’ salary has not been reviewed upward.

Ms Abdulrahman said schools need to cover their costs but pleaded for transparency and a fair balance between quality education and affordability.

A single mother, Lizzy Ogbu, appealed to the government to step in and address the issues of tuition hikes so that the less-privileged could also have opportunities to give their children quality education.

Ms Ogbu said that though the actual school fees might be low, the additional cost of sending a child to school which school owners also increased, is preventing parents from sending their children to good schools.

“I have to withdraw my child from the school because of the increase in school buses by 100 per cent.

“I know that I will not be able to sustain the payment of the school bus; hence, I withdrew my child to a nearby school where he can trek to and from school, not minding the quality of teaching,” she said.

Meanwhile, Olusola Bankole, the immediate past chairman of the National Association of Proprietress of Private Schools (NAPPS), FCT chapter, appealed to parents for calm as the present situation was a face that would pass soon.

Ms Bankole advised parents to plan ahead and schedule their spending in line with their earnings.

The federal government had pledged to set up a formal negotiation team between the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and relevant stakeholders to look into the hike in the fees.

It said the aim is to ensure that the development does not decrease the quality of education.

The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, recently said school fee hikes could be a core factor in bringing about attacks on schools, hence the need to look into this area to avert further attacks.

(NAN)